Journal of Arid Environments 122 (2015) 169e179

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Arid Environments

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jaridenv

Chemistry and evolution of desert ephemeral stream runoff

Omar M. Al-Qudah a, b, *, John C. Walton a, Arturo Woocay a, c
a

Civil Engineering Department, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W University Ave, El-Paso, TX 79968, USA
Center of Nanotechnology and Cooperative Research, Lincoln University of Missouri, 904 Chestnut St., 312 Foster Hall, Jefferson City, MO 65101, USA
c
rez, Ave. Tecnolo
rez, CHIH 32500, Mexico
n de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigacio
n, Instituto Tecnolo
gico de Ciudad Jua
gico 1340, Ciudad Jua
Divisio
b

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 28 May 2014
Received in revised form
1 June 2015
Accepted 15 June 2015
Available online xxx

The study investigates how water chemistry evolves as ephemeral stream runoff is formed through the
interaction of sediments and precipitation in the Amargosa Desert region and by analogy other desert
regions. In this study, thirty lysimeters were installed in the major arroyos in the Amargosa Desert to
capture runoff water. The sampling process included sediment, precipitation, and runoff water chemistry.
Innovative and low cost methods were used to measure the chemical composition of the resulting runoff
and examined some of the important processes affecting the runoff chemistry. Results of the analytical
and statistical analyses indicate that runoff salinity is low as a result of net salt accumulation in sediments. Chemical behavior between precipitation and runoff is classied as leached (TDS, alkalinity, Ca,
3



Mg, K, Na, Ba, Cs, Li, Sr, Fe, Ni), nutrient (Br, As, SO2

4 , PO4 , NO3 , Rb, B, Cu, Zn, V), scavenged (U, F), and
conservative (Al, Mo, Mn). Bromide behaves as a nutrient meaning the chloride/bromide ratio, a common
tracer of groundwater sources, is not conservative. Runoff chloride, sulfate, and sodium are predominantly associated with concentrations of the same ions in sediment. Trace elements are more closely
associated with precipitation chemistry.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Amargosa desert
Ephemeral arroyos
Solute transport
Lysimeter
Redundancy analysis

1. Introduction
Climate change models predict that future precipitation will be
more episodic, leading potentially to larger geographic areas being
dominated by ephemeral streams. Surface runoff from ephemeral
streams in desert regions could be an important water resource if
increasingly captured for benecial use by dams and engineered
recharge facilities with rising future water demand. Relatively little
information is available about the chemistry of ephemeral streams
runoff in desert regions and how it relates to precipitation and
sediment chemistry.
Many models have been developed to study the transport of
chemical constituents from soil into runoff, and the most used
approaches were: the lumped, mixing layer approach and the
diffusion approach. The mixing layer approach suggests that rainfall, soil water, and runoff water mix instantaneously and produce a
thin mixing lm just below the soil surface, and that there is no
transport toward this layer from deeper soil (Ahuja, 1990;

* Corresponding author. 2513 Southridge Dr. Apt#A, Jefferson City, MO 65109,

USA. Tel.: 1 972 801 8539.
E-mail addresses: omal@miners.utep.edu, al-qudaho@lincolnu.edu, alqudah.
omar75@hotmail.com (O.M. Al-Qudah).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2015.06.010
0140-1963/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Steenhuis et al., 1994; Zhang et al., 1999). The diffusion approach

assumes that chemical constituents are transferred from soil into
runoff in a diffusion mechanism, and ignoring the effect of rainfall
(Wallach and van Genuchten, 1990; Wallach, 1991). In general,
these approaches can be tted to experimental data by calibrating
one or more unknown parameters so it remains unclear how
multiple processes interact to facilitate chemical transport between
soil and runoff (Barry et al., 2013). A recently developed approach
(Gao et al., 2004, 2005; Walter et al., 2007) produced from merging
the two previous approaches as the rainfall-driven transport of
chemical constituents from the mixing layer into runoff, and the
diffusion-driven transport from deeper soil layers into the mixing
layer and inltration. However, these models present theoretical
approaches based upon laboratory experiments without supporting eld data.
The scarcity of data and the lack of high quality observations as
well as the potentially discontinuous occurrence of ow in both
space and time are the major characteristics of the ephemeral
streams in arid regions (Al-Qudah et al., 2015, Al-Qudah et al.,
2010). Some authors (e.g., Fisher and Minckley, 1978; and Nativ
et al., 1997) have studied desert ash oods (runoff) as a dilution
phenomenon in terms of dissolved substances, in which low conductivity rainwater dilutes salts accumulated by evaporative

170

O.M. Al-Qudah et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 122 (2015) 169e179

concentration of precipitation. Fisher and Minckley (1978)

described the changes in selected chemical parameters during a
single ash ooding event on Sycamore Creek, Arizona, an intermittent stream. Their results showed that the major anion, bicarbonate, and conductivity followed a dilution pattern; whereas
nitrate, phosphate and iron varied widely through the cycle. Nativ
et al. (1997) used major ion chemistry and water stable isotopes
to evaluate the processes affecting salinization of precipitation and
runoff in the Negev Desert, Israel, and their results showed that, a)
calcium and bicarbonate are the dominant ions in both precipitation and runoff water; b) runoff salinity (expressed as total dissolved solids) is higher than that of the precipitation by almost one
order of magnitude; c) variability in the relative salt enrichment by
a factor of three to ve in the runoff with respect to precipitation;
and, d) the ranges and mean values of the isotopic composition of
runoff water are light with respect to those observed in precipitation. Their results indicate that the dilution phenomena of oods
are partially offset by runoff and increased leaching from the
ephemeral stream beds and surrounding lands and dissolution of
solutes from newly exposed rock and soil minerals as well as from
suspended particles.
In the Amargosa Desert, runoff occurs only as a transient
response to precipitation events, which can be sudden and intense.
The Great Basin desert is known for ash oods that start and end
abruptly, carrying objects as large as boulders and cars when they
do strike (Beck and Glancy, 1995). Run-on occurs when water from
higher areas accumulates in lower areas, which creates the potential for localized increases in inltration (DOE-OCRWM, 2006).
Water-chemicals transportation along the vadose zone has been
intensively studied in the vicinity of the Amargosa Desert
(Montazer and Wilson, 1984; Claassen, 1985; Savard, 1998;
Dettinger, 1989; Fabryka-Martin et al., 1998; Flint et al., 2002,
2001a, b; Hevesi et al., 2003, 2002; Russell et al., 2007; Al-Qudah
et al., 2011). However, the chemical evolution of surface runoff in
the Amargosa Desert region received little attention. The purpose
of this study was to provide insight into chemical transformations
(chemical losses and gains) in the precipitation/sediment interaction that creates runoff chemistry in an arid region. A plausible
hypothesis was that stormwater from small storms would dissolve
and transport the soluble salts that accumulate in the shallow
sediments leading to ephemeral water with high total dissolved
solids (TDS) and chloride.
2. Description of the study area
The Amargosa Desert lays in southern Nevada, USA north east of
Death Valley, between the Mojave Desert and the southern
boundary of the Great Basin, and is presented in Fig. 1. The area is
drained by the ephemeral Amargosa River drainage basin which is
the major stream channel drainage area to Death Valley. Fortymile
Wash, an ephemeral stream that originates in the uplands north of
Yucca Mountain between Timber Mountain and Shoshone Mountain, ows southward along the east of Yucca Mountain and fans
out in the northern part of the Amargosa Desert just north of
Highway 95. Near U.S. Highway 95, the Fortymile Wash channel
changes from being moderately conned to several distributary
channels that are poorly conned. This poorly-dened, distributary
pattern persists downstream to its conuence with the Amargosa
River. A deep carbonate aquifer, locally up to 4600 m (m) thick
(Stetzenbach et al., 2001) and composed mainly of Paleozoic
limestones and dolomites (Flint et al., 2001b), underlies most of the
tuff volcanic rocks and the desert valley sandy soil alluvial ll
(Kwicklis et al., 2003).
The present climate in the Amargosa Desert region is considered
arid to semiarid. The distribution of precipitation is related to the

altitude and latitude of the land surface; the higher mountains in

the northern part of the Amargosa Desert receive the largest
amounts of precipitation and the valley the least. The majority of
the precipitation falls in the winter, while most of the remaining
precipitation occurs in the summer as thunderstorms. The average
annual precipitation ranges from less than 130 mm (mm) at lower
elevations (600 m above mean sea level [amsl]) to more than
280 mm at higher elevations (1200 m-amsl), and the annual
average precipitation is considered as 170 mm per year (mm/yr)
(SNL, 2008; Stetzenbach et al., 2007; Flint et al., 2002). Between
2001 and 2005, the annual average evapotranspiration rate, air
temperature, soil temperature, and relative humidity were,
respectively, 147.7e232.6 mm/yr, 18.0e18.4  C ( C), 21.1e21.9  C,
and 21.7e33.3 percent (%) (Johnson et al., 2007). Recharge in the
region is generally considered sparse and derived from precipitation inltrating at high elevations (>1200 m-amsl) and ephemeral
streams runoff at low elevations (<1200 m-amsl) (Harrill, 1976;
Dettinger, 1989; Flint et al., 2001a, b; Russell and Minor, 2002), and
most conceptual models have estimated net inltration to be <3%
of the precipitation with the most prevalent assuming less than
1 mm/yr (Flint et al., 2001a, b).
In the vicinity of the Amargosa Desert, Beck and Glancy (1995)
have documented the ow in the Fortymile Wash and Amargosa
River during some ash ood events occurring between 1983 and
1995. This documentation conrms that Fortymile Wash and the
Amargosa River have the potential, in the present climatic regime,
to transport dissolved and particulate materials beyond the connes of the Nevada nuclear test site (NTS) and Yucca Mountain
areas during moderate and severe streamow.
3. Methods
3.1. Runoff, precipitation, and sediment sampling
Fig. 2 portrays the sequence of the lysimeter and sediment
methods described here. A simple lysimeter (Fig. 2a and b) was
designed to collect runoff that has contacted and leached some of
the top sandy soil in order to measure its chemical characteristics
and better understand its chemical evolution as the water moved
from precipitation to runoff in the Amargosa Desert's ephemeral
streams. The lysimeters were placed e in pre-selected arroyos in
the Amargosa Desert region (Al-Qudah et al., 2010) e at locations
where water is likely to pool and where sufcient depth of sediment facilitates digging a hole for emplacement (Fig. 2c, d). To the
extent possible, lysimeters were placed in low gradient (depositional) portions of the arroyo to minimize washing out during
storms (Fig. 2e). The top of the lysimeter was 25e50 mm below the
undisturbed surface of the arroyo, and this gap was covered with
washed silica sand (Fig. 2c and d). At each location, a T-post (fence
post) was installed to identify the site and serve as the mount for a
rain gauge. The T-post was pounded on a ank of the wash to
prevent it from being washed away during storm events (Fig. 2f). In
total, thirty lysimeters lled with washed silica sand (Fig. 2b) were
installed between January and September 2009 at thirty different
locations in the vicinity of the Amargosa Desert with an elevationrange between 600 and 1300 m-amsl as shown in Fig. 1.
Three storm events occurred during the study period, in
February, 2009; January, 2010; and December, 2010, with total
depth/precipitation rates of, respectively, (23.9; 4.1), (39.9; 3.8),
and (47.8; 3.3) (mm/event; mm/hour) (CEMP, 2013). The storm
events were local, with runoff only occurring in stretches of the
channels rather than being continuous from distant highlands.
However, the storm events were enough to produce runoff and
lysimeter inltration in the washes (Fig. 2f, g and 2h).
Samples collected from each site location included runoff

O.M. Al-Qudah et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 122 (2015) 169e179

171

Fig. 1. Digital elevation model (DEM) of the Amargosa Desert region, NV, shows the location of the site locations as well as the lysimeters (black diamonds). White font represents
lysimeter numbers. ASL means above sea level.

(lysimeter water), precipitation, and sediment. Runoff and precipitation samples were collected, preserved, and shipped based on
the Standards Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (SMEWW) (Clescerl et al., 2000). Subsequent to arrival at
each location (shortly within a week after each storm occurred): (1)
rain gauge readings were recorded before pouring their water in a
high density polyethylene (HDPE) bottle; (2) a peristaltic pump was
attached to the lysimeter, and the rst 25 mL (ml) of sample was
purged; (3) after purging was completed, inltrating water samples
were collected in different bottle types consistent with the required
chemical constituents (Fig. 2i); (4) prior to collecting samples
requiring ltering from each sampling location, a clean piece of
silicone tubing was installed on the peristaltic pump along with a
new large-capacity (0.45 mm) lter on the discharge end of the
tubing; (5) after sampling was completed, the remaining water (if
any) from the lysimeter was purged to provide space for collection
during the next runoff event; and (6) alkalinity, pH, and EC for
precipitation and runoff samples were measured at each site after
sampling completed (Fig. 2j).
The sediment samples in this study represent a leaching of the
shallow sediment in the stream bottom, which is one type of
sediment that runoff water will interact with before inltrating.
Sediment samples (Fig. 2k) were collected from each site at the
time of lysimeter installations, and shortly after each of the storm
events (i.e., sediments were sampled pre and post-storms). Sediment samples were collected, preserved, and shipped based on the
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards
(D4700-91-06; D4220-95-07). The collected sediment samples
were divided into two subsamples to measure its physical and
chemical properties. The rst group of the sediment samples was
extracted in the lab according to ASTM (D4542-07), by mixing 2 kg
of sediment with 3.76 L of distilled water, letting the mixture settle
overnight and then separating the leachate (Fig. 2l). The ions

leached from sediments represent the soluble species from the

accumulation of atmospheric dryfall/dust, evaporite lms from
non-runoff generating precipitation events, and biological input
(e.g., feces, urine). The second group of the sediment samples was
analyzed at the Nye County nuclear waste repository project ofce
laboratory (NWRPO) based on ASTM standards (D422-63-07;
D854-06; D1140-06; D2216-05) for the following physical properties: gravimetric water contents, hygroscopic water content, bulk
density, solid density, porosity, particle size distribution, uniformity
coefcient, and the soil textural term.
Runoff (lysimeter water), precipitation, and sediment water
(sediment extract) samples were analyzed based on SMEWW
standards (Clescerl et al., 2000) for the major anions and cations
2

2
2

(Cl
, HCO

3 , SO4 , Ca , Mg , K , and Na ), some other ions (Br ,
3

F
, NO

,
PO
,
Li
),
and
trace
elements
(Ba,
Cs,
Sr,
Fe,
Ni,
Rb,
Zn,
As,
3
4
B, Cu, V, U, Al, Mo, and Mn) using inductively coupled plasma mass
spectrometry (ICP-MS) and ion-exchange chromatography (IEC)
machines, whereas water stable isotopes, oxygen-18 (18O) and
deuterium (2H), were determined in commercial laboratories.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Analytical results summary
In total, 167 runoff (lysimeter water) samples were collected
after the three main storms that occurred during the study period.
Sample volumes ranged between 80 and 3000 ml, with a mean of
1360 ml. After the January, 2010 storm event, 45 precipitation
samples were collected from the installed rain gauges; rainfall
amounts ranged between 25 and 75 mm, with a mean of 43 mm. In
total, 182 sediment samples were collected from all site locations
before and after the storm events between January, 2009 and
December, 2010. The sediment physical properties found in this

172

O.M. Al-Qudah et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 122 (2015) 169e179

Fig. 2. Photographic sequence of the lysimeter and sediment methods show: (a) a polyethylene tubing (6.35-mm outer diameter) threaded through a hole made at 25 mm below
the top edge of the 9.5-L bucket and glued to the bottom of the bucket; (b) partially lled lysimeter with washed silica sand; (c) lysimeter installed at 25e50 mm below the
undisturbed surface; (d) fully lled lysimeter with washed silica sand after emplacement, and the tube is exiting the device to provide access to the inside of the lysimeter; (e)
location of two lysimeter after emplacement at site S-8A2; (f) runoff in the Fortymile Wash after a storm event occurred in December, 2010; (g and h) Fortymile Wash after a storm
event occurred in December, 2010 and shows the lysimeters burred under alluvium materials that were transported and accumulated by the runoff; (i) runoff sampling process; (j)
eld measurement of alkalinity, pH, and EC for precipitation and runoff samples; (k) sediment samples; and (l) leaching sediment to obtain its chemical characteristics.

study were: (1) porosity ranged between 0.44 and 0.55 with a mean
value of 0.47, (2) solid density ranged between 2.50 and 2.65 g/ml
with a mean value of 2.58 g/ml, (3) most of the sediment is sand
(62%), followed by gravel (27%), silt (9%), and clay (2%); sandy soil
presents the main textural class for twenty-six site locations, siltysand (loamy sand) at three sites, and clayesilt (silt loam) at one site.
In the Amargosa Desert the thickness of the sediment layer over
bedrock ranges from <20 cm at high elevation to >20 m at low
elevation (Johnson et al., 2007; Guertal et al., 1994).
The basic statistics of the mean chemical analysis (raw values
before normalization) of collected runoff (lysimeter water),

precipitation, and sediment extract (sediment water) samples

before and after storm events are summarized in Table 1, and their
ion ratios are shown in Table 2. The individual ion concentrations in
sediment water are arbitrary in the sense that they depend upon
the volume of water added per kg of sample during leaching (1.88 L/
kg). Comparison of concentrations of sediment concentrations pre
and post storm events indicates that most ions are depleted during
the storm events. Going from precipitation to runoff most analytes
increase in concentration, the exceptions being (Table 1) nitrate,
bromide, arsenic, and cesium.
The ratios in Table 2 reveal trends and allow comparison of

Table 1
Basic statistics of the mean chemical analysis results of the major elements and some of trace metals.a
Sample type

Basic statistics TDS

Anions

Cations

Sedimentc water before storm events (nd 70) Median

Mean
Minimum
Maximum
Std.Dev.
Median ionic
Precipitation (n 45)
Median
Mean
Minimum
Maximum
Std.Dev.
Median ionic
Sediment water after storm events (n 112)
Median
Mean
Minimum
Maximum
Std.Dev.
Median ionic
Runoff (n 167)
Median
Mean
Minimum
Maximum
Std.Dev.
Median ionic
a
b
c
d

164 158
193 180
60
55
1018 892
127 103
dominance (meq/l):
29
12
45
14
7
3
223
25
53
7
dominance (meq/l):
95 109
114 117
48
35.5
455 219
56
32.3
dominance (meq/l):
142
69
246 104
51
33
814 354
210
81
dominance (meq/l):

SO2

4

NO

3

Br

F

Ca2

Trace metals
Mg2 K

1.4
3.4
4.8
0.2
0.04
39.7
2.3
3.3
8.8
7.2
3.4
0.09
43.8
2.9
0.4
0.3
1.9
0.1
0.03
9.2
0.5
15.8 88.7 60.9
35.8
1.4
253
25.2
3.8 14
7.5
5.8
0.2
29.5
2.7
HCO3>Na > Ca  K > Mg > NO3>Br > SO4>Cl > F
2
3.7
1.6
0.4
0.2
4.4
0.6
2.7
4.5
2.0
0.4
0.4
5
0.6
0.6
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.05
0.6
0.1
6.8 11.5
6.2
0.6
1.3
12
1.8
1.7
3.3
1.8
0.07 0.3
2.7
0.4
HCO3Ca > SO4>Cl  Na > Mg > NO3>K > F > Br
0.9
1.5
2.6
0.2
0.04
18.1
1
2.1
4.6
3.7
1.7
0.05
18.4
1.1
0.3
0.2
0.4
0.1
0.01
4.6
0.2
9
52.5 26.2
15.1
0.7
49
4
2.4
8.5
3.9
2.9
0.07
8.4
0.6
HCO3>Ca > Na  K > Mg > NO3>Br > SO4>Cl > F
8
7.9
1.6
0.2
0.3
22
3.7
10
15.4
7.3
0.4
0.4
25.4
5.5
1.9
1.5
0.02
0.2
0.05
9.3
1.2
30
88
48
1.1
1.2
86.1 12.2
11.6 20.5 13
0.3
0.3
15.3
5
HCO3>Ca > Na > Mg > Cl > SO4>K > NO3>>Br > F

Na

Al

As

Cu

Fe

Cs

Li

Sr

Zn

4.9
12.1
2
76.8
15.7

0.07
0.2
0.02
5.8
0.7

0.01
0.01
3E-4
0.04
0.007

0.08
0.09
0.01
0.2
0.03

0.08
0.2
0.02
3.6
0.4

0.008
0.01
4E-4
0.09
0.01

0.006
0.01
0.002
0.09
0.01

0.1
0.1
0.01
0.9
0.1

4E-5
0.001
4E-5
0.01
0.002

0.003
0.008
1E-4
0.25
0.03

1.3
1.6
0.4
4
1

0.01
0.02
0.004
0.05
0.01

0.007
0.007
3E-4
0.03
0.005

0.004
0.003
7E-4
0.008
0.002

0.002
0.005
3E-4
0.03
0.006

0.006
0.008
0.001
0.03
0.008

0.003
0.004
3E-4
0.03
0.006

0.04
0.04
0.007
0.2
0.03

4E-4
0.001
5E-5
0.005
0.001

0.007
0.01
9E-4
0.05
0.01

5.5
5.7
1.7
16.9
2.5

4.4
10
2
54.5
11.6

0.05
0.1
0.01
1.6
0.2

0.005
0.006
2E-4
0.02
0.004

0.008
0.01
1E-4
0.05
0.009

0.01
0.03
1E-4
0.7
0.07

0.004
0.007
2E-4
0.04
0.007

0.005
0.008
0.001
0.04
0.007

0.07
0.08
0.008
0.5
0.07

4E-5
6E-4
2E-5
0.008
0.001

0.002
0.003
1E-4
0.04
0.004

6
9.8
2.8
29.7
8.1

7.1
18.2
1.7
74
22.1

0.2
0.2
0.02
0.6
0.1

0.003
0.007
0.001
0.05
0.01

0.004
0.007
0.001
0.03
0.007

0.07
0.09
0.005
0.3
0.07

0.04
0.07
0.01
0.3
0.06

0.02
0.02
0.008
0.03
0.007

0.14
0.17
0.04
0.4
0.1

0.001
0.003
2E-4
0.01
0.004

0.008
0.01
0.005
0.03
0.008

9.6
10.2
4.3
30.5
5
0.7
0.8
0.05
2
0.5

O.M. Al-Qudah et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 122 (2015) 169e179

T. Alk as CaCO3b Cl

Units in ppm, except otherwise indicated.

Total alkalinity as CaCO3.
Sediment concentrations reect leach water added.
Number of samples.

173

174

O.M. Al-Qudah et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 122 (2015) 169e179

Table 2
Ratios of the major elements (equivalent ratios).
Sample type

Na/Cl

a
Seawater
0.86b,f
Precipitation
e
Sediment water
e
Runoff
e
Sediment water before storm events
Range
0.2 to 92.4
Mean
9.8
% of samples
90% > 1
10% < 1
Precipitation
0.5 to 1.1
Range
0.8
Mean
15% > 1
% of samples
85% < 1
Sediment water after storm events
Range
0.5 to 75.2
Mean
11.5
% of samples
96% > 1
4% < 1
Runoff
Range
0.35 to 45.8
Mean
4.7
% of samples
66% > 1
19% < 1
a
b
c
d
e
f

(Alk-(Ca2Mg2))/Alk

Ca2/Na

Cl
/Br

Na/K

e
e
e
e

0.01f
e
e
e

640b,c,f
220d,e
133d,e
20e225d

47b,f
10b
e
e

0.3 to 0.8
0.2
82% > 0
18% < 0

1.0 to 0.3

0.2
33% > 0
67% < 0

0.3 to 35.2
9.2
91% > 1
9% < 1
1.0 to 18.4
5.0
97% > 1
3% < 1

0.06 to 251
29.5
86% < 100
14% > 100
5.5 to 17
11.2
100% < 110

0.3 to 11
2.0
98% < 10
2% (10e47)
0.9 to 17
5.0
90% < 10
10% (10e47)

0.7 to 0.9
0.5
98% > 0
2% < 0

0.2 to 12.4
4.7
79% > 1
21% < 1

0.1 to 143
18.9
96% < 100
4% > 100

0.6 to 13.5
3.0
96% < 10
4% (10e47)

1.1 to 0.71

0.03
67% > 0
33% < 0

0.4 to 24.3
4.6
85% > 1
15% < 1

2 to 321.5
68.5
38% (20e225)
50% < 20

0.3 to 16.4
3.4
89% < 10
11% (10e47)

First row consists of literature values.

(Nativ et al., 1997).
(Katz et al., 2011).
(Davis et al., 2004, 1998).
(Fabryka-Martin et al., 1998, 1997).
(Dickson and Goyet, 1994).

sediment with other concentrations. The ratio of sodium to chloride begins at near the seawater level in precipitation then increases as precipitation interacts with sediment to form runoff. The
net loss of sodium from sediments is also visible in the pre and post
storm sediment ratios. The mean concentrations of Cl
and Br
in
precipitation were 2.7 and 0.4 ppm, respectively, compared to the
global mean precipitation meteoric values of (3.74 and 0.0132 ppm)
(Neal et al., 2007); Cl
/Br
equivalent ratio ranged between 5.5 and
17 with a mean value of 11.2, and all the precipitation samples fall
below the value of global meteoric precipitation ratio (110e340;
mean 220) (Davis et al., 1998, 2004; Fabryka-Martin et al., 1997,
1998). The chloride to bromide ratio increases noticeably in runoff,
beyond either precipitation or sediment levels. This is indicative of
selective uptake, presumably biological, which decreases the
importance of bromide as an environmental tracer as previously
concluded, e.g., Davis et al. (2004), Reeve (2002), and Bowman and
Rice (1985).
4.2. Evaporation corrected evolution of individual constituents
Comparison of individual analyte behavior between sample
types required normalization. Normalization serves several functions: (a) the sediment sample concentrations are related to the
volume of leaching water added and must be normalized in order
to compare with other samples; and (b) chemical evolution needs
to be separated from degree of evaporation. The logarithmic-ion
ratios diagram, presented in Fig. 3, provides insight into chemical
evolution by examining median concentrations normalized by
sample chloride concentration relative to precipitation (considering chloride as a conservative ion). Changes in an ion relative to
chloride indicate a source or sink for that ion after controlling for
evaporative concentration or dilution.
Processes affecting the concentration of chemical constituents
(normalized values) in the water samples are shown in Fig. 3 as four
general behaviors in terms of how they behave within the domain
of runoff generation, (a) leached behavior occurs when the ion or

element appears to be leached from the sediment by the precipitation and runoff-water. Chemical constituents accumulated in the
sediment water (pre-storm samples) are larger than that in the
precipitation, whereas the concentrations in runoff are in between
(i.e., sediment water > runoff > precipitation). Example, magnesium and sodium presented leached behavior indicating that surcial sediments are a net source for these elements; (b) nutrient
behavior is when microbial or plant preferential (relative to chloride) uptake appears to occur. In this pattern the chemical constituent concentrations in the runoff samples are lower than that in
pre-storm sediment water and precipitation samples (i.e., precipitation & sediment water > runoff). Example, bromide, arsenic,
sulfate, and total-N follow nutrient behavior; (c) scavenged pattern
is when the chemical constituents accumulated in the precipitation
have greater concentrations than that in runoff and pre-storm
sediment water (i.e., precipitation > runoff > sediment water);
suggesting that the element is scavenged from the precipitation
water as it contacts sediment (i.e., accumulating in the sediments),
as shown in uranium and uoride trends. Both nutrient and scavenged behaviors exhibit net loss of analytes between precipitation
and runoff. The labels are descriptive and the distinction between
nutrient and scavenged is not denitive; (d) conservative behavior
is when precipitation z runoff and is taken as the default behavior
whenever none of the other behaviors are statistically signicant.
This behavior can be caused by different processes (e.g., slow kinetics) that cause runoff concentrations to be approximately equal
to precipitation; aluminum, manganese, and molybdenum present
conservative behavior. All categorizations listed in Fig. 3, with the
exception of conservative (the default classication), are statistically signicant by ANOVA at p < 0.05.
4.3. Equilibrium controls (PHREEQC)
The computer program PHREEQC is capable of describing a variety of geochemical processes in aqueous-systems (Parkhurst and
Appelo, 1999). PHREEQC was used to calculate the thermodynamic

O.M. Al-Qudah et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 122 (2015) 169e179

175

Fig. 3. Median concentration of the chemical elements of sediment water and runoff (lysimeter water) normalized by sample chloride and precipitation contents of that element.
When sediment waters > lysimeter waters >1 (i.e., precipitation) it is leached behavior; when sediment waters >1 and lysimeter waters < 1 (i.e., precipitation &
sediments > lysimeter) it is nutrient behavior; when 1 > lysimeter waters > sediment waters (i.e., precipitation > runoff > sediments) it is scavenged behavior; and it is conservative
behavior: when precipitation z runoff and is taken as the default behavior whenever none of the other behaviors are statistically signicant (p > 0.05).

equilibrium saturation indices (SI) for mineral species, based on

anion and cation mean concentrations of sediment water and
runoff as shown in Table 3. The saturation index (SI) is dened as
the logarithm of the ratio of the ion activity product (IAP) of the
component ions of the solid in solution to the solubility product (K)
for the solid [SI log IAP/K].
PHREEQC simulations indicate that the precipitation samples
were under saturated with all minerals considered. Simulations of
sediment waters were performed assuming all the leach water was
evaporated down to measured in situ moisture content prior to
calculating the saturation indices. Saturation indices obtained for
pre-storm sediment show supersaturation with respect to calcium
and magnesium carbonates (calcite and dolomite), chlorite, hydroxyapatite, rhodochrosite, and talc; near saturation with respect

calcium clays and illite; and all other minerals tested are under
saturated. In the case of post-storm sediment water, all considered
minerals in Table 3 show lower saturation than that in pre-storm
event. In this context the supersaturated minerals were likely dissolved by the leach water, mimicking the process that would occur
when streambed sediments interact with runoff water.
Simulations indicate that Ca, CaeMg, and Mg carbonates (calcite
and dolomite), as well as, anorthite, rhodochrosite, and willemiteare are in near saturation in runoff water. Secondary clay
minerals as indicated by Ca-montmorillonite, illite, chlorite,
hydroxyaptite, K-feldspar, and talc are supersaturated. Alkalinity
can come from the dissolution of carbonates and/or weathering of
silicate minerals as shown in Equations (1) and (2) (White, 1979;
Hem, 1992).

Table 3
PHREEQC major saturation indices (SI) average values for runoff and sediment water.
Phase

Formula

(SI) sediment water before storm events

(SI) sediment water after storm events

(SI) runoff

Albite
Anorthite
Ca-Montmorillonite
Calcite
Celestite
Chlorite (14A)
Chrysotile
Dolomite
Fluorite
Gypsum
Hydroxyapatite
Illite
K-feldspar
Melanterite
Rhodochrosite
Sepiolite
Talc
Willemite

NaAlSi3O8
CaAl2Si2O8
Ca0.165Al2.33Si3.67O10(OH)2
CaCO3
SrSO4
Mg5Al2Si3O10(OH)8
Mg3Si2O5(OH)4
CaMg(CO3)2
CaF2
CaSO4:2H2O
Ca5(PO4)3OH
K0.6Mg0.25Al2.3Si3.5O10(OH)2
KAlSi3O8
FeSO4:7H2O
MnCO3
Mg2Si3O7.5OH:3H2O
Mg3Si4O10(OH)2
Zn2SiO4

2.92

2.02

0.39
1.26

3.55
4.31
0.14
1.71

3.28

2.78
6.91
0.07

0.68

20.08
0.52

1.15
2.67

1.65

4.01

3.37

1.2
0.41

3.95

2.01

3.84

0.04

4.05

3.32
4.02

1.2

1.93

20.26

0.53

4.22

1.78

2.8

1.77

0.41
4.22
0.16

3.13
1.97

2.48
0.08

2.56

2.57
4.82
4.07
1.55

9.5
0.2

1.82
1.27

0.35

176

MCO3 /M2 CO2

3

O.M. Al-Qudah et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 122 (2015) 169e179

(1)



 
Silicaterock M H2 CO3 /Silicaterock H M HCO

3
(2)
The near equilibrium of runoff with CaeMg carbonates suggests
rapid reversible dissolution of these minerals from the sediment
giving higher Ca, Mg and alkalinity in runoff relative to precipitation. Under saturation with silicate minerals such as albite, and Kfeldspar is consistent with irreversible silicate weathering leading
to increases of Na, K, and alkalinity (mainly non-carbonated alkalinity as indicated by its ratios in Table 2). Secondary mineral formation suggested by supersaturation with Ca/Mg-clays appears to
be occurring more slowly, allowing the sediments to be net sources
of most cations (e.g., Na and Mg).

4.4. Piper plot

Fig. 4 presents a Piper diagram for the precipitation, runoff, and
sediment water samples. The Piper diagram, where the diamond
shape in the middle reects the hydrochemical facies presented by
the lower triangles, allows comparison of a large number of samples on the same gure, shows clustering of samples and water
type, used to classify water as hydrochemical facies, and controls
for evaporative concentration by examining equivalent ratios for
precipitation, sediment water, and runoff, but only examines major
ions. The idea of hydrogeochemical facies is the classication of
waters according to the relative proportions of major ions (Drever,
1997). Water plotting in the upper half of both the cation and anion
triangles would be referred to as magnesium sulfate-type water
(Drever, 1997). Water plotting in the lower left hand side of the

cation triangle and the lower right hand side of the anion triangle
would be calcium chloride-type water (Drever, 1997). If both cation
and anion compositions plot in the middle of the two triangles,
then the waters would be referred to as mixed cation-mixed aniontypes (Drever, 1997). If a water plots near the middle of one of the
edges of the triangles, then one might refer to, e.g., magnesiumecalcium sulfate water (Drever, 1997).
Precipitation data plot in zones 5, 7, and 8 on the Piper diagram,
indicating (CaeNaeCleHCO3) water-type. The pre-storm sediment
water was dominated by (CO3/HCO3eNa) water facies and shifts in
the Ca direction post storm indicating preferential leaching of the
more soluble Na and K. In all sediment water samples, carbonate
and bicarbonate dominate chloride and sulfate, and there is a range
of cation distributions with most samples dominated by calcium
and magnesium but a tail of samples ranging into sodium and
potassium dominance. Interaction of precipitation with sediments
increases the carbonate concentration relative to chloride.
The Piper plot indicates that runoff chemistry is intermediate
between the chemistry of precipitation and sediment water, with
CaeHCO3 water-type (zone7), as anticipated. This is indicated by
converging arrows on the Piper plot showing sediment water and
precipitation chemistries combining to form runoff.
4.5. Isotopic analysis
The relationship between regional stable isotopes (d2H and
d O) of runoff and rainfall in the Amargosa Desert region is shown
in Fig. 5. Lighter waters are often associated with higher altitudes,
cooler climatic regimes, or higher latitudes and fall in the lower left
portion of the global meteoric water line (GMWL) (Davisson et al.,
1999; Izbicki, 2004); heavier waters are often associated with lower
altitudes, warmer climatic regimes, or lower latitudes and fall in the
upper right portion (Davisson et al., 1999; Izbicki, 2004).
18

Fig. 4. Piper diagram for precipitation, runoff, and sediment water samples shows water chemical characteristics with chemical type denition. Symbol size is proportional to TDS
content. The diamond shape in the middle reects the hydrochemical facies presented by the lower triangles. The black disconnected arrows on the Piper plot showing sediment
water and precipitation chemistries combining to form runoff.

O.M. Al-Qudah et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 122 (2015) 169e179

Previous work in southern Nevada showed that rainfall

collected in the Amargosa Desert dened a local meteoric water
line with the equation d2H 6.6 *d18O e 7.2 (Ingraham et al., 1991;
Benson and Klieforth, 1989), as presented in Fig. 5. Most of the
precipitation events in southern Nevada that conform to the global
MWL have mean isotopic values of less than
9.0 in d18O
and
60 in d2H (Davisson et al., 1999). Ingraham et al. (1991) has
reported that stable isotope values of modern precipitation in
Nevada decrease with increasing latitude and altitude.
Stable isotope composition of runoff and precipitation is shown
in Fig. 5. Runoff samples have d2H in the range of
114.5
and
77.3 with an average of
93.5, while d18O is ranged
between
15.8 and
9.3 with an average of
12.23. These results show that stable isotope composition of runoff shifts below
the GMWL and LMWL and typical mean rainfall values, which
suggests short rainfall events and net evaporative concentration of
the pore and runoff waters. Stable isotope values for both rainfall
and runoff fall close to and below the GMWL, but surface runoff
inltration samples exhibit a broader spread parallel to the
GMWL.
4.6. Multivariate statistical relationships
The multivariate statistical method applied herein is redundancy analysis (RDA). RDA is similar to canonical correlation analysis, but it is a form of constrained ordination that examines how
much of the synthetic variation in one set of (independent) variables explains the variance of another set of (independent) variables (Sen et al., 1986; Schervish, 1987; Liu, 1997; Makarenkov and
Legendre, 2002). In this study, RDA was used to explore the complex multivariate relationships in sediment chemistry, precipitation chemistry, and other variables, on the resulting runoff
chemistry, as well as, the spatial variation of the chemical constituent concentrations among different sample types. RDA uses
principal components analysis (PCA) of the independent variables
to form axes which are used to explain the dependent variables.
The independent variables were the precipitation and sediment
water major chemistry along with elevation, the time since the last

Fig. 5. Water stable isotopes of runoff and rainfall. Rainfall stable isotopes data was
obtained from Ingraham et al. (1991) and Benson and Klieforth (1989). GMWL, global
meteoric water line; LMWL, local meteoric water line.

177

runoff causing precipitation event, the amount of precipitation, and

the collected sample sizes. The dependent variables were the runoff
chemistry.
The rst two environmental variable axes formed in the
Redundancy Analysis (RDA) are plotted using biplot as shown in
Fig. 6. The independent variables, which are used to form the axes,
are graphed with solid lines where the lower case prexes s and
p stand for sediment and precipitation, respectively; whereas the
dependent runoff variables are graphed with dashed lines and are
show without prexes. The cosine of each arrow direction equals
the correlation coefcient of the variable with the rst axis and the
sine of the arrow direction represents the correlation coefcient
with the second axis. Very short arrows, representing little correlation, were deleted from the gure to provide greater clarity. Their
variance is not explained by the rst two axes so no important
information is lost from the graph.
The overall redundancy analysis explained 41.1% of the variance
in runoff chemistry and was statistically signicant at p < 0.001. The
rst axis (23.8% of the variance) consists primarily of precipitation
chemistry and is dominated by precipitation sulfate and total dissolved solids. The second axis (9.9% of the variance) is dominated
by sediment chemistry, especially sediment sulfate and sodium. All
precipitation analytes are positively correlated with the rst (precipitation) axis and sediment analytes are positively correlated
with the second (sediment) axis. Precipitation amount and elevation are positively correlated with rst (precipitation) axis and
negatively correlated with the second (sediment) axis, but the
correlations are not strong.
In the runoff sodium, sulfate, and chloride are positively associated with sediment concentrations of the same ions. Trace metals
and uoride in runoff are clearly associated with precipitation
chemistry rather than sediment chemistry. The precipitation
chemistry includes total precipitation (wetfall and dryfall). A
plausible hypothesis is that the metals arrive predominantly in ne
dust. Runoff total dissolved solids and bromide are associated with

Fig. 6. Biplot graph shows the rst two environmental variable axes of the redundancy
analysis. Redundancy analysis used principal components analysis of the independent
variables (precipitation and sediment water major chemistry along with elevation and
the time since the last runoff causing precipitation event) to form axes which are used
to explain the dependent variables (runoff) chemical evolution. Where p is precipitation and s is sediment water. Dashed lines represent runoff, and solid lines
represent independent variable.

178

O.M. Al-Qudah et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 122 (2015) 169e179

the rst (precipitation chemistry) axis. Consistent with earlier observations, runoff chloride and bromide behave in a dissimilar
manner, inconsistent with conservative tracer behavior. Runoff
alkalinity, calcium, pH, and silicate are negatively associated with
both axes.
5. Summary and conclusions
Ephemeral stream runoff in arid regions derives predominantly
from a mixing of precipitation with residual pore waters and water
lms on near surface sediments. The water chemistry of the runoff
derives from this mixture along with any relatively rapid chemical
reactions or adsorption/desorption resulting from the addition of
the precipitation waters. Small precipitation events in arid environments wet only a shallow depth of sediment prior to essentially
complete evaporation and transpiration. In the non-runoff producing storms the water has time to react with soil minerals prior
to evaporation and weathering and/or ion exchange reactions may
occur in the water lms. When near complete evaporation of the
water occurs the isotopic signature of the water will be lost, but any
dissolved ions (and dry-fall) will remain in the shallow soil and
sediments along with salt lms as pore waters become more
concentrated. When surface runoff occurs the new precipitation
interacts with the near surface sediments where it mixes with the
remaining shallow soil moisture, dissolves some of the precipitated
salts in the desiccated soil, and loses/gains some compounds and
elements to/from adsorption.
Runoff in the study area is predominantly a calcium bicarbonate
water type, and its chemicals were found to follow four patterns, (a)
3



nutrient trend (Br, As, SO2

4 , PO4 , and NO3 ); (b) leached from
sediments (Mg, Na); (c) scavenged by sediments (U, F); and (d)
conservative behavior (Al, Mn). The main processes that resulted
from the current chemical evolution of the runoff are, (a) the
dissolution of the precipitation's dryfall increases the carbonate
concentration relative to chloride; (b) watererock interaction
related to silicate weathering, and/or ion exchange reactions, produced soluble sodium and dominated the non-carbonate alkalinity;
and (c) mineral reactions allowing the sediment to be the net
source of some ions.
Multivariate analysis of runoff chemistry indicates that, (a)
runoff sodium, sulfate, and chloride are associated with sediment
concentrations of the same ions; (b) salinity, and trace metals in
runoff are positively associated with the concentration of most
dissolved major ions in precipitation; (c) alkalinity, calcium, pH,
and silicate are negatively associated with ion concentrations in
precipitation and sediments; (d) runoff chloride and bromide
behave in a dissimilar manner. Bromide is not appropriate for use as
an environmental tracer of water sources in the runoff and its use in
other arid region studies should be reevaluated.
Acknowledgments
Funding for this research was provided by Nye County, NV
through a grant from the US Department of Energy ofce of
Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. John Klenke, Roger
McRae, and the rest of the Nye County Staff for assistance with
sampler construction, installation, and sampling. Dr. David Borrok
(Geological Department, the University of Texas at El Paso UTEP),
Dr. Zhuping Sheng (Texas A&M Agrilife Research and Extension
Center at El Paso), Dr. William Walker (Civil Engineering Department, UTEP) and their research groups for their help and support
with chemical analysis. The Center for Environmental Resource
Management of the University of Texas at El Paso for their funding
and support.

References
Ahuja, L.R., 1990. Modeling soluble chemical transfer to runoff with rainfall impact
as a diffusion process. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 54 (2), 312e321.
Al-Qudah, O.M., Woocay, A., Walton, J.C., 2015. Ephemeral stream chemistry below
the elevation of near-zero net inltration. Hydrol. Process. 29 (10), 2385e2401.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10375.
Al-Qudah, O.M., Woocay, A., Walton, J., 2011. Identication of probable groundwater
paths in the Amargosa desert Vicinity. J. Appl. Geochem. 26 (4), 565e574.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.
Al-Qudah, O.M., Walton, J.C., Woocay, A., 2010. Tracking the chemical footprint of
surface-runoff inltration on groundwater recharge in an arid region. In: Paper
Presented at the 36th Annual Radioactive Waste Management Symposium,
Paper Number 10454, vol. 5, pp. 3621e3637 (Phoenix, AZ).
ASTM D422-63, 2007. Standard Test Method for Particle Size Analysis of Soils. ASTM
International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
ASTM D854-06, 2006. Standard Test Method for Specic Gravity of Soil Solids by
Water Pycnometer. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
ASTM D1140-00, 2006. Standard Test Method for Laboratory Amount of Material in
Soils Finer than No.200 (75-mm) Sieve. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
ASTM D2216-05, 2005. Standard Test Method for Laboratory Determination of
Water (Moisture) Content of Soil and Rock by Mass. ASTM International, West
Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
ASTM D4220-95, 2007. Standard Practices for Preserving and Transporting Soil
Samples. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
ASTM D4542, 2007. Standard Test Method for Pore Water Extraction and Determination of the Soluble Salt Content of Soils by Refractometer. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
ASTM D4700-91, 2006. Guide for Soil Sampling from the Vadose Zone. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
Barry, D.A., Sander, G.C., Jomaa, S., Yeghiazarian, L., Steenhuis, T.S., Selker, J.S., 2013.
Solute and sediment transport at laboratory and eld scale: contributions of J.Y. Parlange. Water Resour. Res. 49, 1e27.
Beck, D.A., Glancy, P.A., 1995. Overview of Runoff of March 11, 1995, in Fortymile
Wash and Amargosa River, Southern Nevada. FS-210e95. Fact Sheet, U.S. Geol.
Surv.
Benson, L., Klieforth, H., 1989. Stable isotopes in precipitation and groundwater in
the Yucca mountain region, southern Nevada-paleoclimate implications. In:
Peterson, D.H. (Ed.), Aspects of Climate Variability in the Pacic and Western
Americas. AGU, pp. 41e59. Geophysical Monograph, 55.
Bowman, R.S., Rice, R.C., 1985. Chemical tracers-their use in measuring deep
percolation rates. In: Proceeding of Third Deep Percolation Symposium,
Scottsdale, Arizona.
CEMP (Community Environmental Monitoring Program), 2013. Internet access
http://www.cemp.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cemp_stations.pl.
Claassen, H.C., 1985. Sources and Mechanisms of Recharge for Groundwater in the
West-Central Amargosa Desert, Nevada e a Geochemical Interpretation. U.S.
Geol. Surv., Professional Paper 712-F.
Clescerl, L.S., Greenberg, A.E., Eaton, A.D. (Eds.), 2000. Standard Methods for the
Examination of Water and Wastewater, 20th ed. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC.
Davis, S.N., Fabryka-Martin, J.T., Wolfsberg, L.E., 2004. Variations of bromide in
potable groundwater in the United States. Groundwater 42 (6), 902e909.
Davis, S.N., Whittemore, D.O., Fabryka-Martin, J.T., 1998. Uses of chloride/bromide
ratios in studies of potable water. Groundwater 36 (2), 338e350.
Davisson, M.L., Smith, D.K., Kenneally, J., Rose, T.P., 1999. Isotope hydrology of
southern Nevada groundwater: stable isotopes and radiocarbon. Water Resour.
Res. 35 (1), 179e294.
Dettinger, M.D., 1989. Reconnaissance estimates of natural recharge to desert basins
in Nevada, USA, by using chloride-balance calculations. J. Hydrol. 106, 55e78.
Dickson, A.G., Goyet, C., 1994. Handbook of Methods for the Analysis of the Various
Parameters of the Carbon Dioxide System in Sea Water. DOE- ORNLCDIAC-74.
DOE-OCRWM (U.S. Department of Energy-Ofce of Civilian Radioactive Waste
Management), 2006. Evaluation of Technical Impact on the Yucca Mountain
Project Technical Basis Resulting from Issues Raised by E-mails of Former
Project Participants. DOE/RW-0583, 144 p.
Drever, J.I., 1997. The Geochemistry of Natural Waters, third ed. Prentice Hall, Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey.
Fabryka-Martin, J.T., Turin, H.R., Wolfsberg, A.V., Brenner, D., Dixon, P.R.,
Musgrave, J., 1998. Summary Report of Chlorine-36 Studies. Yucca Mountain
Site Characterization Project Milestone Report 3782M. Los Alamos National
Laboratory, Los Alamos, California.
Fabryka-Martin, J.T., Wolfsberg, A.V., Dixon, P.R., Levy, S.S., Musgrave, J., Turin, H.J.,
1997. Summary Report of Chlorine-36 Studies: Systematic Sampling for
Chlorine-36 in the Exploratory Studies Facility. Los Alamos National Laboratory
Report LA-13352-MS. Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project Milestone
Report 3783M. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, California.
Fisher, S.G., Minckley, W.L., 1978. Chemical characteristics of a desert stream in ash
ood. J. Arid. Env. 1, 25e33.
Flint, A.L., Flint, L.E., Bodvarsson, G.S., Kwicklis, E.M., Fabryka-Martin, J.T., 2001a.
Evolution of the conceptual model of unsaturated zone hydrology at Yucca
mountain, Nevada. J. Hydrol. 247, 1e30.
Flint, A.L., Flint, L.E., Kwicklis, E.M., Bodvarsson, G.S., Fabryka-Martin, J.M., 2001b.

O.M. Al-Qudah et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 122 (2015) 169e179

Hydrology of Yucca mountain, Nevada. Rev. Geophys. AGU 39 (4), 447e470.
Flint, A.L., Flint, L.E., Kwicklis, E.M., Fabryka-Martin, J.T., Bodvarsson, G.S., 2002.
Estimating recharge at Yucca mountain, Nevada, USA: comparison of methods.
Hydrog. J. 10 (1), 180e204.
Gao, B., Walter, M.T., Steenhuis, T.S., Hogarth, W.L., Parlange, J.-Y.,, 2004. Rainfall
induced chemical transport from soil to runoff: theory and experiments.
J. Hydrol. 295 (1e4), 291e304.
Gao, B., Walter, M.T., Steenhuis, T.S., Parlange, J.-Y., Richards, B.K., Hogarth, W.L.,
Rose, C.W., 2005. Investigating raindrop effects on transport of sediment and
non-sorbed chemicals from soil to surface runoff. J. Hydrol. 308 (1e4), 313e320.
Guertal, W.R., Flint, A.L., Hofmann, L.L., Hudson, D.B., 1994. Characterization of a desert
soil sequence at Yucca mountain, NV. In: Proceeding of the Fifth International
High-level Radioactive Waste Management Conference, Las Vegas, NV, USA; 22-26
May. American Nuclear Society, LaGrange Park, Illinois, pp. 2755e2760.
Harrill, J.R., 1976. Pumping and groundwater storage depletion in Las Vegas Valley,
Nevada, 1955e74. Nev. Div. Water Resour. Bull. 44, 70.
Hem, J.D., 1992. Study and Interpretation of the Chemical Characteristics of Natural
Water. USGS Water Supply Paper 2254. http://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/wsp2254/
(accessed September, 2010).
Hevesi, J.A., Flint, A.L., Flint, L.E., 2003. Simulation of Net Inltration and Potential
Recharge Using a Distributed Parameter Watershed Model for the Death Valley
Region, Nevada and California. U.S. Geol. Surv. Water-Resour. Invest. Rep. 034090, Sacramento, CA.
Hevesi, J.A., Flint, A.L., Flint, L.E., 2002. Preliminary Estimates of Spatially Distributed
Net Inltration and Recharge for the Death Valley Region, NevadaeCalifornia.
U.S. Geol. Surv. Rep. 02e4010.
Ingraham, N.L., Lyles, B.F., Jacobson, R.L., Hess, J.W., 1991. Stable isotope study of
precipitation and spring discharge in southern Nevada. J. Hydrol. 125, 243e258.
Izbicki, J.A., 2004. Source and Movement of Ground Water in the Western Part of
the Mojave Desert, Southern California, USA. U.S. Geol. Surv. Water-Resour.
Invest. Rep. 03e4313.
Johnson, M.J., Mayers, C.J., Garcia, C.A., Andraski, B.J., 2007. Selected Micrometeorological, Soil Moisture, and Evapotranspiration Data at Amargosa Desert
Research Site in Nye County Near Beatty, Nevada, 2001e2005. U.S. Department
of the Interior, U.S. Geol. Surv.
Katz, B.G., Eberts, S.M., Kauffman, L.J., 2011. Using Cl/Br ratios and other indicators
to assess potential impacts on groundwater quality from septic systems: a review and examples from principle aquifers in the United States. J. Hydrol. 397,
151e166.
Kwicklis, E., Meijer, A., Fabryka-Martin, J.T., 2003. Geochemical Inverse Model of
Groundwater Mixing and Chemical Evolution in the Yucca Mountain Area, International High- Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference. American
Nuclear Society, Las Vegas, Nevada. La Grange Park, Illinois.
Liu, Q., 1997. Variation partitioning by partial redundancy analysis (RDA). Environmetrics 8, 75e85.
Makarenkov, V., Legendre, P., 2002. Nonlinear redundancy analysis and canonical
correspondence analysis based on polynomial regression. Ecology 83 (4),
1146e1161.
Montazer, P., Wilson, W.E., 1984. Conceptual Hydrologic Model of Flow in the Unsaturated Zone, Yucca Mountain, NV. U.S. Geol. Surv. Rep. 84e4344.

179

Nativ, R., Adar, E., Dahan, O., Nissim, I., 1997. Water salinization in arid regionsobservations from the Negev desert. Isr. J. Hydrol. 196, 271e296.
Neal, C., Margaret, N., Hughes, S., Wickham, H., Hill, L., Harman, S., 2007. Bromine
and bromide in rainfall, cloud, stream and groundwater in the Plynlimon area
of Mid-Wales. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11 (1), 301e312.
Parkhurst, D.L., Appelo, C.A.J., 1999. User's Guide to PHREEQC (Version 2): a Computer Program for Speciation, Batch-Reaction, One-dimensional Transport, and
Inverse Geochemical Calculations. U. S. Geol. Surv. Water-Resour. Invest. Rep..
99e4259, 310 p.
Reeve, A.S., 2002. The migration of a sodium bromide tracer in a large Maine
Peatland. In: Proceeding of GSA Abstracts with Programs, vol. 34(6), 420 p.
Russell, C.E., Mizell, S.A., Minor, T.B., 2007. Estimation of Groundwater Recharge
in Steptoe Valley, Nevada, by the Elevation-dependent Chloride Massbalance Approach. Publication no. 41241. DRI, Las Vegas and Reno,
Nevada, 53 p.
Russell, C.E., Minor, T., 2002. Reconnaissance Estimates of Recharge Based on an
Elevation-dependent Chloride Mass-balance Approach, Nevada Operations Ofce National Nuclear Security Administration. DOE/NV/11508e37, Publ..
no.45164. U.S. DOE, Rep, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Savard, C.S., 1998. Estimated Groundwater Recharge from Stream-ow in Fortymile
Wash Near Yucca Mountain, Nevada. U.S. Geol. Surv. Rep., 97e4273.
Schervish, M.J., 1987. A review of multivariate analysis. Stat. Sci. 2 (4), 396e413.
Sen, P.K., Anderson, T.W., Arnold, S.F., Eaton, M.L., Giri, N.C., Gnanadesikan, R.,
Kendall, M.G., Kshirsagar, A.M., 1986. Review: contemporary textbooks on
multivariate statistical analysis: a panoramic appraisal and critique. J. Am. Stat.
Assoc. 81 (394), 560e564.
SNL (Sandia National Laboratories), 2008. Total System Performance Assessment for
the Yucca Mountain Site. DOC. 20080312.0001/MDL-WIS-PA-000005 REV00.
Steenhuis, T.S., Boll, J., Shalit, G., Selker, J.S., Merwin, I.A., 1994. A simple equation for
predicting preferential ow solute concentrations. J. Environ. Qual. 23 (5),
1058e1064.
Stetzenbach, K.J., Brandt, A., 2007. Precipitation Monitoring at Yucca Mountain.
Publications (YM). Paper 10. http://digitalcommons.library.unlv.edu/yucca_
mtn_pubs/10.
Stetzenbach, K.J., Hodge, V.F., Guo, C., Farnham, I.M., Johannesson, K.H., 2001.
Geochemical and statistical evidence of deep carbonate groundwater within
overlying volcanic rock Aquifers/Aquitards of southern Nevada, USA. J. Hydrol.
243, 254e271.
Wallach, R., 1991. Runoff contamination by soil chemicals: time scale approach.
Water Resour. Res. 27 (2), 215e223.
Wallach, R., van Genuchten, M.T., 1990. A physically based model for predicting
solute transfer from soil solution to rainfall-induced runoff water. Water Resour.
Res. 26 (9), 2119e2126.
Walter, M.T., Gao, B., Parlange, J.-Y., 2007. Modeling soil solute release into runoff
with inltration. J. Hydrol. 347 (3e4), 430e437.
White, A.F., 1979. Geochemistry of Groundwater Associated with Tuffaceous Rocks,
Oasis Valley, Nevada. U.S. Geol. Surv., Professional Paper 712-E, 25 p.
Zhang, X.C., Norton, D., Nearing, M.A., 1999. Coupling mixing zone concept with
convection-diffusion equation to predict chemical transfer to surface runoff.
Trans. ASAE 42 (4), 987e994.